The Longest Night
by Nattou
Summary: The thought of returning home without a baby made his stomach clench and he tightened his grip on his mom's hand as more tears escaped his eyes. Not as sad as it sounds. ZV


_**AN: **_Right, so someone, I don't know who, decided that my Zac and Vanessa stories should _once again _be deleted, so here I am posting again.

**THIS STORY HAS BEEN EDITED AND SLIGHTLY RE-WRITTEN! **

**Disclaimer: **This is a derivate piece of fiction featuring real people. The author is not affiliated, nor knows any of the following people - including their friends and family - on a personal level - Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Kenny Ortega, nor any other celebrity mentioned throughout this piece of work. This work is solely intended for posting on Fanfiction, for the benefit and enjoyment of its intended audience. No commercial or financial benefit accrues or is intended to accrue to the author as a result of said posting. Any unauthorized copying or redistribution of this work might subject the party responsible for such unauthorized copying or redistribution to legal action by the owners of the aforementioned copyrights and trademarks.

A big thanks to _**Holly Baggins **_for proofreading and generally helping me with the final touch ups on this story!

--ZxV--

**The Longest Night**

Zac Efron threw the car door open and pushed his way through the endless array of paparazzi that had gathered outside the hospital doors. The flashes from the cameras almost blinded him but right at that moment he couldn't care less about what the public thought about him. Unshed tears burned behind his eyelids as the crowd grew bigger around him.

_"Zac! What happened?"_The questions were thrown at him from every possible angle and the urge to hit someone grew with every step he took. As the main doors came into view, the soft but cold wind swept over his bare arms. He shivered involuntarily before the automatic doors slid open and he stepped into the reception area. Nurses were running to and fro, hardly noticing him as he walked towards the front desk on shaky legs.  
"Where can I find Vanessa Anne Hudgens?" he asked, breathing heavily; the combination of racing to the hospital, running inside and dodging questions affecting him more than he was prepared for.

"Is it Vanessa?"

"Did the baby come early?"

"Will she be okay?"

"Can you give us any information about her condition?"

"I'm sorry; I can't give out any information about her," the elderly lady said without looking up. Zac groaned in frustration although he was thankful that the frustrating members of the paparazzi wouldn't get to know where she was.

"I'm her boyfriend." The woman looked up; she recognized his face, but still needed to make sure.

"Can I see your identification please? I just need to make sure - families and bodyguards orders."

Zac nodded and handed over his drivers' license. The woman glanced at it quickly before 

she handed it back.  
"Take the elevator to the third floor, walk right then take a left, then right, and follow that corridor to the end. You should find her family and a few friends in the waiting room there."

"Thank you," he said gratefully before practically running to the elevator.

_"Zac…There's, been an accident. You need to come to the hospital."_Zac shook his head. Gina Hudgens' voice had been emotionless and the mere thought of the conversation made his heart rate speed up. He had no idea what had happened, or how bad it was, and nothing had ever scared him more.  
_Right…left…right…where were they?  
_  
"Zac!" A miniature version of his girlfriend exclaimed as she ran towards him. Zac reached out and pulled the sixteen year old into a hug.

"What happened? Is she okay? Is the baby okay?"

"Just come down here, okay?"

"How is she?" he whispered into her hair. Stella Hudgens remained silent and hugged him tighter.

"Stella…what happened?"

"Car accident," she whispered as a few tears made their way down her cheeks. Zac closed his eyes.

"No… Is…is she okay? Is the baby okay?" She looked away.

"Stella, look at me. Are they okay?"

"We don't know, Zac," Gina said from behind Stella. Zac closed his eyes and rubbed soothing circles on Stella's back.

"She was brought straight into intensive care…"

"Did they tell you anything?"

"Just that she's unconscious and has a broken wrist; other than that just scratches and bruises. They said they're doing everything they can to save the baby…we haven't heard anything for over an hour."

Forcing back his tears he glanced around the waiting area. It was as sterile as any other waiting room, but at least it was a bit secluded from the rest of the hospital. Gina and Stella had taken seats on either side of Greg Hudgens and held onto one hand each. Averting his eyes from them, he noticed his own parents sitting against the opposite wall. He took a deep breath and walked over to the empty chair next to his mom, Starla. Her usual bright smile and sparkling eyes were replaced by a solemn look Zac was sure mirrored his own.

Burying his face in his hands he let out a defeated sigh. Never in his life had he felt so helpless. Vanessa was in there fighting for both herself and their unborn baby, and there wasn't a thing he could do to help.

Feeling a warm hand grip his own he looked into her mom's eyes and let the first tear 

fall. A white cradle was already assembled in their bedroom, and in the bathroom stood a dark wooden changing commode. All throughout the house there were traces of baby gear; a car seat, clothes, blankets and diapers. The thought of returning home without a baby made his stomach clench and he tightened his grip on his mom's hand as more tears escaped his eyes.

--ZxV--

Footsteps echoed through the hallway making Zac tear his eyes away from the spot they were glued to. He could feel his mom tense next to him and immediately sat up straighter while running a hand through his already messy hair.

Just as the doctor stepped into the room, Zac felt his heart rate speed up again. The terrifying feeling of helplessness and worry overtook him when he looked up from his clipboard. His face was impossible to read.

"Hey again," he said and glanced around the room. "Mr. Zac Efron I presume?" he asked.

Zac nodded and stood up, immediately regretting the action as his legs tried to give away under him.

"Yes, that's me."

"Hi, I'm Dr. Sanders." He shook the doctors' outstretched hand before sitting down again.

"I've been taking care of Miss Hudgens for the past hour. Did her family inform you of what I told them earlier?" Zac nodded. "Ok, good. We've taken care of her wounds; some of her cuts were pretty deep and needed suturing, but nothing too serious. Her arm has also been put in a cast, but our main concern right now is the baby. The impact of the car crash made Vanessa's body go into an early labor. We've tried stopping the contractions with medication, but her body doesn't react to them. We are currently preparing her for a C-section to ease the stress on both her and the baby. She just recently regained consciousness, but is still confused and nowhere strong enough to go through with child birth. Neither is the baby."

"But its way too soon!" Zac exclaimed.

"Yes, it's early but thankfully she's almost thirty-two weeks along, which means that the baby is almost fully developed."  
"It will…survive…won't it?" Stella asked quietly.

"Babies born at this time of the pregnancy have a survival rate of over 98 percent, it will receive the best possible care, I promise you that." Dr. Sanders said.

Zac nodded and looked at his family. "Do whatever you think is best for them."

"I will…If you want to sit with her when she's out of surgery, you can."

He glanced at Gina and Greg who he knew wanted to see her just as bad as he did.

"Go ahead Zac. She would want you there," Greg said.

He nodded and followed the doctor down the hall. An array of feelings was running through his head and he wasn't sure which one wanted to take control. On one hand he was so relieved that both the baby and Vanessa were okay, but on the other; complete 

and utter fear ran through him.

Vanessa was undergoing surgery, and they were going to get a premature baby. It was a scenario he had never imagined himself to be in, and it was one he certainly didn't want to be in again.  
Shaking his head slightly he focused on following the doctor, leaving his feelings to be dealt with later.

--ZxV--

The gentle tapping of the rain was the only thing that broke the deafening silence that surrounded him. At this point he wasn't really sure if the silence was in his head or if it was really there, but he had never thought a hospital could be this silent.

Sighing, he buried his face in his hands and tried to rub the worry and tiredness away. The thirty minutes he had spent in the sterile white room had felt like an eternity. Her scent still lingered in the air, gently reminding him of the fact that she wasn't there.

Stretching his legs he got up from the semi comfortable leather chair and walked over to the window. He just couldn't sit still anymore. Outside the wind had increased sending raindrops horizontally against the glass in front of his face. He looked down happy to see that the photographers had backed off and were no longer blocking the main entrance.

Sometimes he really did hate being famous. He was pretty sure that the rumour mills online were going crazy right now.

_"Zac Efron runs into Los Angeles Memorial Hospital late Wednesday Afternoon. Why is still not known, but we hope everything is alright. 20 + pictures __here." _

_  
_Yeah, that sounded like something Just Jared would write.

Yawning he scratched the back of his neck, a nervous habit he had picked up somewhere in his teens. The same habit had made it embarrassingly clear to Vanessa that he had been nervous when he had asked her out all those years ago. He smiled to himself remembering her sweet smile accompanied by a line he would never forget 'Zac Efron, are you nervous?'

The sound of the door being opened brought him out of his little daze. He whipped his head around just as two nurses wheeled a bed with a sleeping Vanessa in it into the room. Her face was pale and a red cut was held together by skin closures on her left cheek.

Zac's breath was caught in his throat. She looked so lifeless. Her head was lulled slightly to the side, her sparkling brown eyes hidden behind heavy eyelids.

"She should be up within the hour; if you need us just press the call button over there."

"Huh?" Zac shook his head, obviously lost in his own little world. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that." The nurse smiled at him.

"She should be up within the hour. If you need us for anything, just press the red call button on the wall, ok?" she repeated. He nodded and managed to force out a little smile.

"And congratulations." Zac whipped his head around to look at her again. "You got a little 

girl," she smiled.

He couldn't help but let the corners of his lips turn upwards in a smile. He had a daughter, a baby girl that he and Vanessa had created.

"Did you hear that, Van? We've got a girl..." He said and placed a chair next to her bed, grabbing a hold of her hand.

"Now we need to find a name, but you need to wake up for that…" carefully he let his fingers trace the outline of her face, avoiding the scratches and bruises the crash had left her with.

Tears burned in his eyes as the reality of the situation hit him with full force. The baby bump he'd been stroking this morning was dramatically reduced, and somewhere in the hospital lay his new baby daughter fighting to stay alive while he just sat there, unable to do much more than hold onto Vanessa's hand.

--ZxV--

"Mr. Efron…would you like to see your daughter?"

Zac let his eyes wander from Vanessa's sleeping form to an elderly nurse in the doorway. Her round kind face smiled at him, and he felt his heart beat with a little less worry than before. A smiling nurse rarely brought sad new. Caressing Vanessa's knuckles softly he leaned up and pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"I'll be right back, Van, but right now there's another little person I'm sure you would want me to keep company," he whispered as he pulled back, letting go of her hand. With a sad smile he looked at her one more time before he joined the nurse on the short walk down the hallways.

"Try not to look so sad, Mr. Efron. They are both doing really good under the circumstances."

"How are they really?" Zac asked barely above a whisper, as they stopped outside the doors to the NICU ward.  
He needed to know. The truth might be harsh, but he wanted to know.

Needed to prepare himself for what he would find behind those doors.

The elderly woman gave him a sad smile and sat down on a couch placed in the hallway. "I'm not going to lie to you, Zac…can I call you Zac?" He nodded and took a seat next to her. "Ok, I'm Maria. Under the circumstances your daughter is doing really well, however, she is very small and at the moment it's crucial for her to be in an incubator and get some help breathing. We've given her a shot which will help her lungs develop faster, but it's not a miracle cure that will make her able to breathe all on her own in the blink of an eye."

Zac took a deep breath and closed his eyes, willing back the tears that wanted to escape. As a warm and wrinkly hand wrapped around his own he opened his eyes.

"It's okay to react and be sad, Zac…it's perfectly normal after going through what you've gone through today. Don't bottle it up inside you; we're all here to help you get through this. And there's a little fighter in there who, I'm pretty sure, wants to meet her Daddy for the first time," Maria said and smiled at him as a tear ran down his cheek.

"I'm scared," he admitted.

"I know you are, and I know it's going to be tough, but the longer you wait the harder it'll be. She's a perfect little girl, Zac; she's got all her fingers and toes, two amazing blue eyes, and the cutest little nose you'll ever see. She's beautiful; she just needs a little help getting a hang of how things work outside the womb. She's not in any immediate danger."

Zac nodded and wiped away his tears. Maria smiled and stood up, opening the NICU doors for him. He took a deep breath before he entered the part of the hospital he really wished he didn't have to see. Just like in the maternity ward the walls were covered in different pictures of pregnant bellies and newborn babies.

Through an open door Zac saw something that looked like a family room where a tired looking couple was snuggled up on the couch watching something he couldn't quite place on the TV. He sighed and followed Maria further down the corridor until she stopped outside a door with glass windows.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Not really."

"It'll be fine." She smiled and opened the door. "Now we weren't sure if she was a 'Baby Hudgens' or a 'Baby Efron', so we just put down 'Vanessa's girl.' Hope you don't mind."

Zac couldn't help but let a small smile form on his lips.

"Vanessa's girl is fine," he said. Maria smiled and walked over to an incubator with a pink paper heart fastened to it, but Zac couldn't find the strength to move.

His little baby girl was in that incubator…hooked up to various machines that were beeping in a steady rhythm…various machines that made sure she was still alive. Feeling tears prickle in his eyes again he mustered up all the strength he had and slowly walked over to her. As he glanced inside he let the tears roll down his cheeks.

There inside the plastic box lay his tiny, but oh so perfect, daughter. A blue plastic tube, held in place by tape, stuck out of her mouth, and her left arm was covered in a white bandage with a another plastic tube sticking out from between the folds. Sleeping soundly on her stomach, her back rose and fell steadily each time her tiny lungs filled with air. Never in his life had he seen such a fragile looking human being. Her head was no bigger than the palm of his hand, and her wrist couldn't possibly be thicker than his thumb.

Blinking franticly, he touched the pink heart that hung at the side. 'Vanessa's girl, November 1st 2013'

"You can touch her if you like," Maria's soft voice told him as she opened the little plastic window, "She won't break."

With trembling fingers he slid his hand through the hole and carefully let them slide over the soft dark curls on her head. Tears welled up in his eyes again as the silken locks moved beneath his fingertips.

"Hey Princess…I'm your Daddy," he whispered and let his index finger trace the outline of her delicate face. A tear slowly made its way down his cheek as a pair of dark blue eyes fluttered open and looked up at him. She blinked a few times before her eyelids slowly closed again. It only lasted a few seconds, but in those few seconds Zac felt something stir inside him.  


He knew he had loved her before she was even born, but this was something different. It was something he couldn't put his finger on, something that made his heart flutter with both pride and pain.

He let his finger slide over her shoulder and down her arm before he carefully picked up the smallest hand he had ever held. Feeling the small wrinkly fingers wrap around his index finger he forcefully closed his eyes as his heart beat sped up and a lump formed in his throat. Slowly, he let his thumb glide over the top of her hand. Her skin felt soft and warm against his, and a part of him was almost scared it would break upon contact.

"Is your family still here?" Maria asked gently after a few minutes, pulling Zac back into the real world. He nodded and tore his eyes away from his daughter. She smiled and held out a camera.

"We've already taken a few pictures, if you want to you can take a few more and bring it out to show them."

Zac smiled and reached for the camera with his free hand.

--ZxV--

Clutching the camera in his hand, Zac walked into the waiting room with glistening eyes.

Leaving his daughter had been harder than he had imagined, his finger was still tingling from her touch and her picture haunted him every time he closed his eyes.

"Zac!" His Mom exclaimed when she spotted him. "What's going on? They haven't told us anything," she said and wrapped her arms around him. Zac sighed and gladly accepted the comfort only a mother could provide.

"Vanessa's still out from the anesthetics," he said as he pulled away from the hug.

"And the baby?" Starla asked tentatively. Zac scratched his neck and sat down in the empty chair next to Stella.

"Zac?"

"She's not in any immediate danger, but she will most likely need help breathing for a few weeks…She's so small…" His voice cracked. Stella's warm hand wrapped around his own and he took a deep breath. "She's beautiful," he said as he handed the camera to his mother. "They took some pictures so you could see her. At the moment they don't let anyone else into the NICU."

"Do you know when we can see them?" Stella asked and let her head rest on his shoulder. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders he sighed. "I don't know Stel…I don't know."

"Mr. Efron?" He whipped his head around at the sound of the doctors' voice.

"She's waking up."

Giving Stella one last squeeze he stood up and glanced at the others. His mom held out the digital camera and he carefully grabbed it. Feeling almost guilty for leaving her parents in the waiting room, he followed the doctor down the hall.

"Zac!" Gina's voice made him stop dead in his tracks. He turned around to look at her.

"Tell her we love and will see her as soon as we can, ok?" she asked. Zac smiled.

"Will do," he said, giving her a quick hug before continuing on the short walk down the corridor.

Moments later they stopped in front of the same white door he had left a good half hour earlier and he felt his heart beat speed up.

"She just woke up, and might be disorientated especially since she didn't fully regain consciousness before we put her under anesthetics. Answer whatever questions she has truthfully, but try to keep her calm. A panic attack is the last thing her body needs right now."

Zac nodded and slowly opened the door, leaving the doctor outside. He quietly made his way over to the bed and sat down in the empty chair. Her eyes were still closed but he could see that she had moved slightly.

"Vanessa? You with me?" He asked, cradling her hand between his own.

"Uugh," she whimpered and turned her head.

"Wake up Van, it's time to leave dreamland," he said and gently slid his thumb over her knuckles. Once again she groaned, but opened her eyes slightly. Zac could barely make out the brown color through the narrow gaps, but it was enough for him. She was awake.

"Zac?" She asked in a hoarse voice that faintly resembled her own.

"Yeah it's me."

"Where am I?"

"You're at the hospital, Babe."

"The hospital?" Opening her eyes a bit more she glanced around the sterile room, finally coming to a rest on Zac.

"There was a car crash," he said quietly; carefully watching her as what he said sunk in. Her eyes fluttered close again, not quite ready to face the real world.

"Vanessa, stay awake," Zac said as he gently tugged on her hand. "Open those pretty eyes for me," he coaxed, hoping it would bring her out of her semi dream state.

"Hi," she whispered as her eyelids slowly slid open.

"Hi."

The words lingered in the air long after they were spoken, as blue and brown eyes met in a conversation where words weren't needed. With a gentle smile Zac brushed a stray curl from her forehead and watched as her eyes fluttered close at his soft touch.

Opening her eyes again she glanced down her body as a silent tear ran down her cheek.

"The baby …" she whispered. Another tear left the corner of her eye and made a path close to her nose. Zac closed his eyes briefly and wiped away the lone tear.

"I know, Babe."

"I'm sorry…" Shocked, he looked into her eyes that were shimmering with tears.

"What are you sorry for?" He asked softly.

"I…I k…I killed our baby…" she whispered, voice cracking as more tears escaped her eyes.

"Oh, Van. You didn't kill our baby." He said and kissed her knuckles. "Our baby is perfectly fine. She's absolutely perfect."

"She?"

Zac nodded and wiped away more tears. "A perfect little girl."

Vanessa closed her eyes and took a deep breath as a small smiled formed on her lips.

"We have a daughter?" she asked.

"We have a daughter."

Smiling faintly she tore her eyes away from Zac and looked around the room. Not finding what she was looking for she looked back at him. "Where is she? You said she was fine…if she was fine she would be here! Where is she, Zac?"

"Calm down," Zac said gently and tucked away a stray piece of hair. Tears of fright were forming in her eyes and his heart broke for her.

"She's fine. I promise, but she's small, Babe. She's in the NICU"

"No…no…our baby girl isn't supposed to be there…She…she should be here…"

"I know, Van, but she needs a little help since she came out a little earlier than anyone planned on," he said, surprising himself at how calm he was all of a sudden. With a gentle stroke he wiped away the new batch of tears than ran down her cheeks.

"H-have you seen her?" Vanessa asked silently. Zac nodded with a small smile. "I have, and she's absolutely gorgeous. She needs a name though, at the moment they call her 'Vanessa's girl'." He said and carefully tapped her nose with his index finger. "They weren't sure if she was Efron or Hudgens."

"Efron, she's Efron." Vanessa said firmly. Zac smiled at her before pecking her lips gently.

"Now that we've figured out her last name, what will her first one be?"

"I don't know…I want to see her first…I think…but I really like Emeline."

"I think Emeline will fit her perfectly."

Vanessa smiled and looked down at their entwined fingers. "I want to see her Zac…" It came out barely above a whisper, but he heard her perfectly.

"I know you do…but you just had surgery…"

"I _need _to see her…" she whispered, eyes brimming with tears. "She lived inside me…"

Zac sighed and kissed her knuckles. "I'll go find a doctor."

--ZxV--

The hospital seemed unnaturally silent again. The only sound that registered in his head was the quiet 'whoosh' sound the wheelchair made as they continued down the corridor.

He was scared.

Maybe that was why everything seemed so silent. He had never thought that going to the NICU for the second time would be this hard. No matter how much he loved his baby girl, he didn't want to see her hooked up to all those machines again…but he knew had to. Not only for his own sake, but for Vanessa's and for his daughters.

As the door came into view he could feel his heartbeat race against his ribs and he stopped for a second, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

"Ready?" he asked.

"No…but I need to do this…" she answered while fighting back the tears that were glimmering in the corner of her eye. Zac stopped again and crouched down in front of her, taking both her hands in his own.

"I'm scared, Zac…what if something happens to her?"

"They're watching her every breath, they'll know at once if something is wrong"

"Does she breathe…?"

Zac closed his eyes and ran his thumb in circles on top of her hand.

"No." he said gently.

"No…She has to breathe, Zac! She cant…she has…she…she's my baby…" Tears flooded her eyes as her body started shaking with sobs. At a loss of what else to do, Zac held her as close to him as he could while she was in the chair.

"Shh…Shh, Babe. It's going to be ok. They're making sure everything's fine with her. They won't let anything happen…Shh…" He whispered as he rubbed her back gently.

"Shh…"

"S-s-horry…"

"Don't be sorry." He said and wiped away the remaining tears.

"Don't be sorry, don't ever be sorry." He soothed as her sobs gradually turned into the occasional sharp intake of air. This was not how he had pictured becoming a family would be, but it was the reality they had been given and there was nothing left now, but to deal with it the best way they could.

"Ok….I'm…I'm ready."

"You sure?"

"Yes." She stated as firmly as she could. Zac gave her a small smile and kissed her forehead.

"Ok. Let's do this"

"Let's do this." She repeated as he opened the NICU doors and slowly pushed the wheelchair into the corridor. The walk seemed longer this time, like the corridor had grown in the past hour. The little door seemed to be miles away, and a part of him really wished it was. His heart was still thumping fast and hard, and he could feel his hands getting sweaty. Never in his life had he felt so vulnerable. It was as if his skin had been peeled away, leaving his nerves and feelings out in the open for everyone to see and take advantage of.

Stopping in front of the door, he glanced through the glass window. The room looked just like it had done an hour ago, 6 incubators were placed by the walls, surrounded by monitors and cords in different colors. Pink and blue paper hearts adorned all the little beds, and he found his eyes automatically being drawn towards where his own daughter slept peacefully.

"Can you see her?" Vanessa asked, tears still shimmering in her dark eyes. Tearing his eyes away from the sleeping baby-girl, he looked down at her and nodded before he placed a hand on the doorknob, slowly turning it till it clicked open, letting a small streak of light into the dim hallway. Vanessa's good hand immediately reached for his, and he gently squeezed it, trying to give her some sort of comfort.

"It's going to be okay, Van. She's small, but she's strong…just like her mother."

"I'm a mess…" she sniveled as heavy tears found their way down her cheeks again.

"Well then we match." He smiled and carefully brushed her tears away with the pad of his thumb. "All three of us"

Something similar to a smile appeared on her face, and he almost jumped a mile in the air when the door behind his back suddenly opened. An elderly nurse walked out and looked at them with a small smile. "Are you two ok?" she asked.

Zac looked at Vanessa and nodded his head, "We will be."

"Let me know if you need anything ok? I'll just be right in here." She said before she walked through a white painted door with a big window. Vanessa nodded and looked back at Zac. He smiled and crouched down in front of her.

"This has been the longest night in my life, Vanessa, but it's almost tomorrow now. Are you ready to face the new day with our daughter?"

She nodded, new tears still clutching to her long eyelashes for dare life as she tried to blink them away. She was scared, he knew she was, but so was he. He was scared shitless, but as long as his two girls were safe, and as long as she held his hand, he didn't care.

"I love you, Mommy," he whispered as he stood up, placing a soft kiss on her lips in the process. For a while she didn't respond, her eyes fused together in what he knew was an attempt to keep the tears from falling.

"You have no idea, Daddy…you have no idea…" she finally said, her brown, tearful eyes smiling up at him. He placed his hand on the door and gently pushed it open, before he walked around the chair and placed his hands on the handles. Taking one step he broke the barrier, moving them from the empty endless corridor, into a room containing their precious baby-daughter.

--ZxV--

**AN: **There you have it. Slightly re-written, and edited. Hope you liked it, and please leave a comment telling me what you think.

Caroline


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